Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, who is the best Superhero of all ?

Spent a lazy weekend, watching WALL-E , which I definitely recommend and trying to clean up my house. Of course, cleaning for K & I seems to be a continuous process, since I came to America. So every Sunday, when I wail I miss India, K knows that is more because I miss my maid and ironing guy.

As we were waiting for Wall- E, the new trailer for Batman shot across the screen. As I watched one of my favorite actors, Heath Ledger, give his maniacal smile and bring life to one of the most hated, batman villains, I also glimpsed at the tortured batman. Even though Christian Bale plays the part well, my favorite has always been Michael Keaton. He fit into the debonair, bachelor with all the gadgets really well. He had angst, but he also has the steely resolve to help the defenseless. As you guessed by now Bruce Wayne aka Batman aka the Dark knight was and is my favorite superhero. He has always been my favorite as he is human ( was not born on a alien planet), creates his own fighting gear ( does not use radio active spiders) and of course has a lot of money (Do I have to explain that one ! :) ).Phantom came in a close second, due to the amazing comic books that came every week to my library and to round the top three up, it was Spider man. Any kid living in India in the 90s could hum the tune of Spiderman. Screening on Doordarshan just before the weekend movie, the spidey costume and antics amazed me and for a while, I did look around for radioactive spiders. But seeing even a normal one made me run in the opposite direction.

Coming back to the present , the new Batman movie looked slick ,dark and terribly exciting. But I felt a strange sense of melancholy. It was simpler when heroes where portrayed in shades of white and a little grey, you know the good guys versus bad guys. Comics have grown up along with us, and now every hero has a complex history, that makes every decision be tied to a life and death situation. Heroes, with no back stories also fall flat at the box office or the comic stands. So its natural, that the writers try and input as much humanity as possible. But should humanity always lead to tears and unbearable situations. I understand, Peter Parker as a freelance photographer, unable to pay his bills, his electricity goes out on him and girlfriend dumps him ,that will make most people buy a glass of bear and throw darts at her picture, but to have him turn into a Dark version of Spiderman to terrorize people , seems to go against the basic truth that this was a hero created to avenge his uncle's death. I loved Iron man, with its humor laced dialogues, but I am kind of hesitant about part two, when Tony Stark, is going to confront his alcoholism. Its almost like the greater enemy is not on the outside terrorizing demons but their internal struggle for good. While reading the comic books, you always knew that the hero of your choice was going to succeed in the end. Bash up the bad guys, swing across ropes to the scene of the crime, and lets not forget get to kiss the gal in the end. Seems more and more of the story has the superheroes do a lot of the kissing and thinking, before any of the action,which in turn is dark and bloody.

So I wonder, do I miss the action in the simplicity of the scheme or I dislike that reality somehow touches these men of steel, spider or bat ?.I think it’s a mixture of both. I love to see the good guys win, same as I would like to see happily ever after in every film, because it transports me to a place where good always triumphs. So with that hope I will continue to see every comic strip that converts into a movie. But if they convert Asterix or Tintin into movies, and make them into lost souls, I think that will be the day I give up on the comic section !
On a better note, I would like each one of you who reads this to let me know what kind of superhero you would like to be . I would like to be the Girl in green tights. That way I will always stay slim on comic strips and be an environmentally friendly superhero :D!

For the joke

Tom and Clark were standing on the roof of their building drinking a few beers on their break and Clark said, "Hey Tom, did you know that if you jump off this building, after you get down so far, a draft will pull you back inside the building on the third floor?"

"Get outta here," said Tom

"No I'm serious, watch me."Clark hopped off the building and sure enough, he was taken in by the draft at the third floor window. He took the elevator back to the top and Tom and a security guard that arrived were standing there, Tom in awe.

"I can't believe it." Said Tom."I know you should try it Tom."So Tom hopped off and plunged into the ground.

"Superman you're an asshole when you're drunk." said the security guard.

Keep smiling ppl

Anu

PS : For non comic fans like K, the Pseudonym for these super guys are Clark Kent = Superman, Peter Parker = Spiderman, Bruce Wayne = Batmand and Tony Spark = Iron man :) !